I am already away tomorrow for the last day of my professional development course that I have been taking over this past school year and now I have to be away today too. My daycare and my grandma backup are both down with the flu. I am so disappointed because of course this means that I will miss the Spring Fling dress rehearsal this morning too and I am so sad to have to miss seeing our classmates perform. Please tell the kids that I will miss them, but these things happen and I am counting on them to help out our guest teacher and make them feel welcome and special.

Sorry for the delay! Here are some dates to note for the rest of the month…

March 10…hot lunch and Fun Friday (the kids have filled another party chain, so we will be enjoying a morning of different games and activities. We will be watching “Storks” in the afternoon and the kids are invited to bring a dry snack to go along with it.

March 17th…Dress in green for St. Patrick’s Day…Progress Reports go home.

March 22 and 23rd…P/S/T interviews..(by request). Please let me know if you would like to attend and I will be in touch with those that I would like to see shortly.

Just like that holidays are over and we are back at it tomorrow. Please remember to send skates and helmets for tomorrow afternoon. We will be at the rink from 1:05ish to 1:45ish.

As you know…I sent home the kids’ binders before the break. If you could send them back empty tomorrow I would greatly appreciate it. I want to try a portfolio style binder that will come home monthly with work samples. My hope is that this will help you to see how your child is doing on a regular basis.

It will also be day 1 of our SCC fundraiser “Kidnap My Teacher”. Please clean out your loose change and send as many nickels as you have!!! The winning class at the end of the week will celebrate with a party, while their poor teacher will be “kidnapped” for an hour…so sad:)

Dress in your superhero best on Monday to gain points for your house league team!

We are sitting at -30 with the windchill as of right now. Unfortunately we will not be able to go skating today:( Thank you to everyone who was planning on coming to help out. Fingers crossed for next week!

We begin each morning visiting and settling in to the spots that we have picked for the day. Once our day planner is out…we choose a book to read, or work on our “exploring” (details to follow). Ms. O uses this time to take attendance, catch students up on unfinished work, or work one on one with anyone who needs a boost.

When our special song plays, we clean up what are working on…join in on the movement break…then meet on the carpet for morning meeting.

Morning Meeting

During this time, we greet each other, discuss what the day will look like, and have a sharing circle (Mon and Fri). Next we decipher our mystery morning message. This is our phonics time where we work on specific word study rules and grammar. I then look for this to be reflected in their reading and writing. After that, we write our day planner message where we practice our letter placement and printing. The kids then answer the question of the day (math related), exchange their green bag books and wash up for snack.

Math

I have just changed the way our math period looks like and the kids seem to really been enjoying it. We begin with a “number talk” where we discuss our thinking and strategies to solve a set of question. Go to (www.mathsolutions.com) to learn more. We then complete a set of questions or problems on our own. When the kids finish their job, they head to a math invitation where they practice different math skills in a hands on approach. Ask your child to explain what their choices are and which one is their favorite:)

After recess we alternate between RW and WW…

Reader’s Workshop

Reader’s workshop begins with a mini-lesson based on a comprehension strategy that we are working on. We are currently working on questioning and inferring. After the lesson, the kids get their RW book bags and go find a cozy place to read. They take out their chosen book, activate their schema, and begin reading while stopping to make tracks of their thinking. Their RW notebooks should begin coming home shortly as most of them have filled up a book with their sticky notes. Their comprehension grows each time they take a minute to think about what they are reading. I confer with 3-4 students per session where I listen to them read, ask them questions to gage their understanding.

Writer’s Workshop

Just like in RW, we begin our WW with a mini-lesson based on the skill we are focusing on. Today we talked about different ways to start our sentences in order to make our writing interesting for the reader. The kids are then released to practice the skill through writing a personal narrative, report or story. After the break, I will introduce poetry to give them another way to express themselves. Each student has their own writing folder and finished writing folder where they keep their work. I confer with 2-3 students per session giving them whatever guidance they need at the level they are working at. Those students then take a turn in “author’s chair” where they showcase their writing in front of the class.

Exploring

Exploring is where we learn about the science and social outcomes in our curriculum. We begin by talking about the outcome and what it means. We define the big words that we do not understand so we can figure out what we need to learn. Next we activate our schema (what we already know), followed by creating questions about what we want to find out. Then…we read for information. The kids also learn about text features, key words and other elements of language that help us to gain a deep understanding. The current outcome we are working on is “analyzing the growth of development of familiar animals during their lifecycle.” They have each created a book about their chosen mammal and are now working on learning about the life cycle of a bird, reptile, amphibian, fish or insect.

Just a quick reminder to send 1 family pic and 1 of your child with friends. I am at school today prepping and would love it if you would be able to email them to me some time today so we can add them to the slide show.